To a child that will lose both of his mothers;

I express my sympathies to you, Diana is a wonderful woman.

But do not grieve in bloodshed.

A warning from Kim hayan, a person that was before your mother.

To a royal that will be the oldest;

When your sister is born, protect her, care for her, but do not spend so much time with her that it will cause suspicion.

Amor, Nyx Noxlucis, a mother, a bad mother.

To Athanasia's older brother;

Your little sister, the daughter of Diana and Claude, is fated for many things.

με πολύ αγάπη, Κασσάνδρα, A woman who was before your mother.

No matter how many times he tried ignoring and denying, Eros couldn't help the warm feeling that itched him to smile at the sight of Diana. So he always turned his head away when he saw her. But the woman annoyingly stepped into his line of sight.

"I am happy to see you, Prince Eros." She said with a bright smile.

"Okay." He doesn't know what to say. He wished mother taught him how to respond to this woman.

"Can I sit next to you, Your highness?"

Eros doesn't respond verbally, but moved slightly to the right, making room for her.

She smiled. "Your highness, I was wonderi—"

"Eros," He cut off.

"Pardon?"

He turned his head to stare at her. "Just call me Eros, Diana. It's a bother. "

She giggled. "As you wish, Eros. So I was considering this, I have seen you for a while now. But it wondered me, how come you were never with your father? And so, I ask, will you allow me to join you and his majesty for tea?"

What? "You want me to sit at a table together, eating cakes and drink tea with you and father?" Eros looked at her puzzlingly.

"Yes," she smiled. "It would be wonderful to spend time together, don't you think so?"

Eros looked at her hopeful gaze and bright smiles, and for some reason, he found himself saying, "I suppose. "

Diana clapped her hand cheerfully. "Thank you so much, Eros!"

His lips parted then he closed them, turning away. He doesn't notice how his ears flushed pink. "You're too loud. " he doesn't know why he said that.

Soft laughter and mutters of how "Claude's son indeed." continued the comfortable moment.

The royal father and son pair just silently observed the amazing and charming existence of Diana. Her laughter and encouragement made the son turn away and the father's lips curl upwards if not just slightly.

Diana was kind and happy. Unlike Nyx, his mother, who was equally beautiful but harsh and colder than the bloody emperor. It confused Eros very much. Diana compliments him instead of saying nothing when he succeeded on something, even something as insignificant as finishing a book. She pats his head lovingly, leaving him with the alien but welcoming feeling of contentment, so different from the way Nyx would glare at him with her cold dark eyes.

He now isn't sure what a mother should be. How a mother should love. And because Nyx confessed her actions weren't love, Eros decided Diana's were. She was everything and more of how the books and gossips from the maids spoke of a loving person. She worries about him when he studies late at night. She kindly advised him when he was wrong. She made his own father to talk to Eros.

Diana's existence was thought of as a mother in Eros's eyes. Until, she really was about to be one.

Eros' eyes widened at the hand on the woman's growing belly. "You're pregnant. "

The ruby eyed woman laughed."i am."

"With father? But that means—"

"Yes," her grin widened. "You're going to have a younger sibling, Eros."

He almost spilled his tea on his book's pages if not for a maid's quick reflexes. In awe, Eros said, "I'm going to be an older brother. "

Laughter sounded from the pregnant woman's mouth. "You will be a great one, Love." Her hand twitched as she asked, "is it alright for me to pat your head, Prince Eros?"

"Hm?" He narrowed his eyes, but, "I suppose. "

The pregnant woman smiled and gently placed her hand on the royal heir's head.

It's warm.

3 months after

Eros held a box jeweled roses, a gift for Diana. I hope she likes it, he thought as he went past bowing servants and concubines, saying, "greetings to the future sun of Obelia." He paid them mind with a glance and continued walking, leaving more murmurs of gossip than usual. But then, he stopped. From Diana's room, he heard someone talking–no, pleading?

"...ana, choose me. Choose me instead of this unborn child that's eating your life aw—!"

Creak. Crash!

He doesn't care about the dropped box of luxuries on the floor, as he ran to his father and Diana (he ignored the voice of his late mother scolding him not to embarrass himself by running in front of the emperor.)

Cerulean eyes wide in horror, voice wavering as he tried to sound as calm as he could muster. "D–Diana, father," Claude's own expression would be seen as emotionless, but Eros knew better, it was a look of absolute desperation. However, the worst was that Diana was crying, soft tears on her cheeks. "What did you mean by that? What do you mean that her child's eating her life away?" Wasn't that how mother died too? He wondered anxiously.

The kind woman with glazed ruby eyes quickly wiped her tears, and went to hold Eros' hands. "Eros," She looked into royal blue. "It is true, my body can't handle having this child. But Eros, " she snapped her head at her lover. "Claude, I want to choose my baby. " She said, with a determination that only a woman called Diana would have.

"I.." Eros couldn't look at Diana, so he turned away. But unlike the time with his mother, he doesn't run away. "So, you'll just die, after you give birth to your baby?"

Claude flinched, while Diana sadly nodded, a small smile still on her face. "I'm sorry, Eros."

Sorry. An act for forgiveness. Mother had never said that to him. Maybe. Just maybe, Diana won't die like her too.

(Use my knowledge to you for the benefit of existences.)

"I'll," Eros promised, "I'll find a way for you both to live." He then quickly turned away and ran to his study to find his mother's books about medicine and healing.

But Diana shouted, "Eros! Wait–!"

The emperor placed a hand on Diana's shoulder, a far-away look on his cerulean eyes. "Let him try and fail."

She looked up, and says, "I am sorry, Claude. "

"You wouldn't have to be sorry if you just choose for yourself to live, not the thing in your stomach. "

"That 'thing' is our child, Claude." Diana corrected him tiredly.

The blond man doesn't answer, just sitting near his lover in silence. Diana doesn't mention his tight hold on her, and just ripped his hand reassuringly.

The servants in the Sapphire Palace glanced curiously, nervously, at the prince that ran to his private room where he stored all of the things his late mother left him. They heard sounds of thrashing until their prince hastily shut the door closed. Most of the servants knew of a certain lover of the emperor's close relationship with her stepson, they suspected it had something to do with Diana's pregnancy. And so they gossiped.

Meanwhile, Eros opened book after book with titles such as 'the horrors of childbirth', 'how to deal with pregnant sickness', then at last, he found one with suspiciously specific called, "what to do when you can't handle your unborn child's mana and you think it will kill you..?" Eros wondered how his mother knew, but then erased the thought. His mother always seemed to know everything, this wasn't surprising.

He opened to read the contents, found it empty expect for a single sentence:

You cannot do anything for Diana, Eros.

He scowled as he felt the last bit of hope he had was crushed by his mother. He closed the book carefully, knowing that making a mess wouldn't solve anything. He sat down on the marble floor. Eros couldn't help but feel some type of resentment for his late mother. Ridiculous letters, book that could only be perfect for a problem or just completely useless.

But none of it will help Diana.

Eros, he, didn't have much expectations towards his mother after she so harshly slapped him of the little hope he had for her love. But for Diana, a woman that was kind enough to care for him, he hoped, just a fraction of a hope, that Nyx Noxlucis could help him just this once.

He doesn't want to kill his little sibling in Diana's belly, unlike his father, as much as he wants Diana to live, he wants the baby to do so too. (His mother always told him not to be too much like Claude) Diana doesn't want him to, and he's certain that if he did so, Diana would hate him. He doesn't want her to hate him.

But, but, but, but—!

Just the thought of not being able to see the person that acted more kindly to him than his own mother, the woman who would let him sleep on her lap, just the image of Diana breathing her last breath—

(Just like mother)

—it made him want to sob, cry out, beg, and destroy the world that won't have the wonderful being called Diana.

("You have your father's temper, do not kill, or destroy anything from your anger and sadness. it is a pointless reason to cause destruction from despair.")

However, Eros is his mother's child. And therefore, he stood up, dug his nails deeper to his palms til he could feel his blood dripping, and cried everything away. He sobbed the looming dread of losing another mother, the thought of his sibling that won't be able to meet Diana, and the knowledge of knowing that his father will certainly shed blood in anguish.